March 13, 2007: Air Asia X has decided to defer its flights between Malaysia and the UK, earlier planned to commence this July with return tickets costing between $80 and $450. The service has been put on probably until August 2008.

The decision comes following realization that the airline fell short of plaes to be deployed for the service. It is now hoping to lease wide bodied, high capacity jets for its planned long-haul routes, said a report. Air Asia X is looking at the cost structure and the right aircraft before going for a lease agreement.

Meanwhile, industry experts said that getting the right planes at the right price appears to be proving more problematic. It may be noted that the carrier had been eyeing Boeing's 777 and the A330 model by Airbus. The delay in the production of the new super jumbo, the A380, has forced airlines to hold onto their 777s and A330s rather than sell them on or lease them out, according to the airline.

Though many seem to be keen on putting on the Airbus production delay, it is also believed that the decision also had something to do with the lack of planning on the part of Air Asia X. The expectations of being able to start services in July had seemed unrealistic given the lack of availability of aircraft, said an insider.

Though demand for wide bodied aircraft has gone up considerably in recent years, Boeing and Airbus have not been able to produce enough and there aren't enough aircraft coming 'off-lease' to meet the demand, it has been reported.

Meanwhile the airline's sister company Air Asia has managed to avoid such problems and has in the last five years Air Asia graduated from running two planes to 51, reports said.